Just now the news that Hedi Slimane exit fashionhouse Saint Laurent has got out. Fashionworld is chocked, but not I!

We need to see the bigger perspecive about how luxury fashion is affected by a variety of things including political, social and economic contexts and relationships. What many do not realize is how geography influences and how a luxury product carries an important cultural heritage from its ancestors. Von Wachenfelt wrote in ”Lyx och Begär” about how every society creates its own luxury. The national dimension of luxury and fashion in particular, is something I have read a lot about during fashionscience studies at Stockholm University. The relationship of nationality and fashionproducts has Eugene Paulicelli written about in ”Fashion under fascism” where she has with clarity shown how fashion has been used to try to create, promote and define a national identity. She wrote about Italy and with focus under the years of fascism. Fashion has been used to define a national role, that is particularly visible those years Italy was ruled by the fascist regime, fashion was constantly used to identify and market a nationality. Paulicelli shows that fashions role in the creation of a national consciousness is not unique during fascism, what she found is rather a confirmation of a tendency whose origins stretch back in time, at least as far as the Renaissance and a development of which extends further until the present time.

Kapferer and Bastien has in ”The Luxury Strategy. Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands” written abot the development of luxury from the 1900s onwards and that it is declined to be a separated world including then the ever-growing part of the population which begins to take part of the luxury. The authors identify four different motivations as reasons behind the development of luxury in the world: 1. democratization, 2. increased purchasing power, 3. globalization and 4. communication. They believe that when all these components work together they help to increase the market of luxury. Thus it is precisely the combination of components that provide a fashion brand in luxury segment to find opportunities to grow and gain bigger market shares.

Didier Grumbach has in ”History of International Fashion” written about how luxury brands in recent decades by a decision to abandon its licensing policy been given a new identity. What is most important is what he writes about that unlike the luxury brands who diversify over time, fashion brand overall, their life is shorter because there are great opportunities for new territory.

As I see it, with the trend over the past decade with the increased proportion of luxury products that reach more consumers, globalization and internet purchases will place great demands on the change of the luxury market and brands. Because, we are influenced by contemporaries with things as globalization and political refugees and this do not just put nationalism in politics as an increasingly clear motion without fashion and luxury affected by our contemporary society, and therefore I believe it of course will reflect on the luxury. The luxury will become more nationalistic. Values ​​such as handicrafts and domestic production is words used more and more in the luxury segment and also the use of national heritage. My belief is that Hedi Slimane, although in my view a wonderful designer, his career at Saint Lauren is ended because he creates for a tough, rocking and L.A. inspired community. Fashion house Saint Laurent, I think anyway, want to find the roots and get back of Yves and the French. And I actually like to see the origin in a fashionhouse creations:)